Legal Definitions - fair-cross-section requirement

The fair-cross-section requirement is a constitutional principle ensuring that the group of potential jurors from which a trial jury is selected accurately reflects the diverse composition of the community. This principle is rooted in the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees a defendant's right to an impartial jury. It means that the process for compiling jury lists must not systematically exclude or significantly underrepresent any distinctive group within the population.

While the pool of potential jurors doesn't need to be an exact statistical mirror of the community, it must be a fair representation. The goal is to prevent any single group from being unfairly left out or having their presence diminished, thereby ensuring that the jury selection process offers a genuine opportunity for a broad range of community members to serve.

• Example 1: Geographic Exclusion

  Imagine a county that draws all its potential jurors exclusively from a single, affluent suburban zip code, even though the county also includes a large, diverse urban area and several rural communities. If this practice consistently results in jury pools that lack representation from the urban and rural populations, it would likely violate the fair-cross-section requirement. The method systematically excludes residents from significant parts of the jurisdiction, preventing a fair reflection of the community's full demographic, socioeconomic, and racial diversity.

• Example 2: Biased Source Lists

  Consider a state where the jury selection system relies solely on driver's license records. If a particular demographic group, such as recent immigrants or a specific age cohort, has a significantly lower rate of obtaining driver's licenses compared to their presence in the general population, this reliance could lead to their systematic underrepresentation in jury pools. Even if unintentional, if this method consistently excludes a distinctive group, it could be challenged under the fair-cross-section requirement because the source list itself creates an unfair bias.

• Example 3: Technological Barriers

  Suppose a jurisdiction implements a new jury summons system that exclusively uses email and requires all responses and preliminary questionnaires to be completed online. If a substantial portion of the jurisdiction's elderly population or low-income residents have limited internet access or digital literacy, this system could inadvertently lead to their significant underrepresentation in the jury pool. The method, despite being technologically advanced, creates a barrier for a distinctive demographic group, thereby failing to ensure a fair cross-section of the community.